From Chen Yue's perspective, Itachi Uchiha was a prime example of someone who hadn't been properly educated.
Because Fugaku Uchiha had taken Itachi with him from a young age, meticulously training him, Itachi had been exposed to the conflicts between the clan and the village early on. This led to a question that plagued him: who was more important, the clan or the village?
Faced with this dilemma, would Fugaku, with his own internal struggles, have firmly stated his stance on the side of the clan?
Most likely not. The more likely scenario was him telling Itachi: "The clan is important, and so is the village. Some members of the clan are wrong, but certain individuals in the village aren't good either..."
This seemingly correct answer was utterly confusing for a child, leaving Itachi's question unanswered.
Itachi, burdened by this confusion, entered the Ninja Academy, where he was indoctrinated by the Will of Fire.
The academy teachers and the village elders presented Itachi with the answer his father hadn't given him.
For the higher-ups of Konoha, the question of who was more important, the clan or the village?
Regardless of their true thoughts and actions, their answer to Itachi was unambiguous: the village.
Thus, the seeds of choosing the village and becoming an enemy of the clan were sown, waiting for a catalyst to fully bloom.
That catalyst for Itachi was the suicide of his best friend and older brother, Shisui Uchiha.
Looking back at the Uchiha Clan massacre, the greatest culprit was Fugaku Uchiha.
Not only because he, as clan leader, failed to manage the internal conflict between the clan's hawks and doves, as well as the relationship between the clan and the village; not only because, facing a crisis, he didn't fight to save his clan but chose to close his eyes and wait for death, watching as his clan perished; but also because he was terrible at guiding Itachi's thoughts.
Compared to Fugaku, Hiken Uchiha, who had lived since the Warring States Period, clearly understood the importance of shaping a child's thoughts.
Facing the main city of Konoha below, Hiken Uchiha spoke slowly: "Child, do you know that many years ago, your ancestor, the previous head of the Uchiha clan, stood at the peak of this mountain, overlooking this land, and co-founded Konoha with the leader of the Senju clan?"
"I know. Grandma told me that Konoha was founded by our clan and the Senju clan."
Aya Uchiha, when teaching him to read and basic knowledge about the ninja world, had emphasized that the Uchiha clan were the founders of Konoha.
It's likely that all Uchiha clan members, during their basic education, would have been reminded of this point.
"Then do you know what happened before Konoha was established, and what happened after it was established?"
The old man continued to ask, but this time he knew he wouldn't get an answer, so without waiting for the boy to respond, he slowly began to recount the story of that time.
A story similar to what Chen Yue knew, but with subtle differences.
The world before the founding of Konoha was a chaotic era, a long, dark age filled with bloodshed and power struggles.
The courtiers from the ancient dynasties had completely lost their power. Ambitious individuals and the strong seized control of their own territories, their samurai and hired ninjas constantly clashing with their enemies, and with each other.
Victory, defeat, mutual destruction, decline, rise, annexation, division - these events endlessly repeated, as if there was no end.
These leaders of independent territories were called 'Meishu,' and the most prominent among them were called 'Daimyo.'
Most of these 'Meishu' were ordinary people, gaining power through samurai and hired ninjas, but some were ninja themselves.
They also controlled their respective regions, with the two most powerful forces being the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan.
Either clan was immensely powerful. If only one existed in the world, perhaps they would have swept across the land and ended the chaos.
Unfortunately, both existed in this world, and these two powerful forces saw each other as their greatest enemies.
Therefore, until a force capable of sweeping across the land emerged, the divided and chaotic world continued for hundreds of years, until a certain turning point.
By chance, among the perpetually warring Senju and Uchiha clans, two children with similar ambitions emerged, both longing to end the chaos.
Even more coincidentally, these two children would later become the leaders of their respective clans.
Thus, under the leadership of the new generation of clan leaders, after a series of twists and turns, an alliance was finally reached between the two clans.
With the two most powerful clans joining forces, and with two of the most powerful ninjas of the time leading them, the power to sweep across the land and end the chaos emerged.
In the face of the combined might of the two clans, the two unparalleled ninjas, and a society weary of chaos and longing for peace, the chaos was finally brought to an end with Hashirama Senju's proposal of a 'Country and Village' system.
Those who yearned for peace and feared the strength of the Senju and Uchiha clans responded to Hashirama's 'Country and Village' system, leading to the formation of the Fire Country and Konohagakure.
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PS: I saw some readers' comments saying it was too verbose. Okay, I admit, the first volume is mainly about setting the background. The second volume, about the Ninja Academy, will be more plot-driven.